The Dakota County sheriff’s office has been awarded a $450,000 federal grant to gather evidence of domestic and sexual violence and stalking-related electronic crimes.

The three-year grant from the Office on Violence Against Women in the Department of Justice will enhance the efforts of the Dakota County Electronic Crime Task Force “solely for the protection of women from crimes of violence and to investigate and prosecute offenders,” Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie said in a statement Tuesday.

The money will be used to hire a full-time examiner who is schooled in computer forensic examinations, as well as a part-time coordinator who will work with victims in criminal cases from inception through prosecution, Leslie said.

Under a previous grant, the electronic task force worked with victims to successfully and safely recover evidence and prosecute offenders. The task force also partnered with 360 Communities in Burnsville and the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women in St. Paul.

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